Delegation from French Clusters Visit Israel to Explore Partnerships

As a part of the  ”Rencontres Franco Israéliennes pour l’Innovation et la Coopération” (Franco-Israeli meetings to promote innovation and cooperation) initiative, the Fondation Sophia Antipolis organized a delegation early December 2009 to Israel with the objective to promote the various companies and clusters in the Côte d’Azur (French Riviera) region to Israeli companies, academic institutions and R&D organizations.

The Israeli activities were organized by the Israeli Institue of Technology which is the Fondation Sophia Antipolis counterpart in the Rencontres Franco Israéliennes pour l’Innovation et la Coopération initiative. The overall objectives with the initiative are:

• Promote and expand bilateral activities with the goal of helping companies expand their businesses internationally
• Promote the French clusters
• Develop training programs (mentorship program, etc.)
• Further improve relations to help set-up projects, collaboration, share information on tenders/calls for projects etc.
• Support the project of a new incubator in Sophia based on an Israeli model and which should be set-up in Sophia Antipolis in 2010

We are excited to see international collaborations, and look forward to see how the synergies play out.